A statue of pop icon Michal Jackson has been removed from the grounds of the National Football Museum, as charges of abuse are once again lodged against the late star.
The museum, based in Manchester, UK, insisted that the elimination of the singer’s statue was part of a campaign to “better represent the stories we want to tell,” according to Sky News.
Museum authorities said that the statue would be put into storage and out of view of the public.
Mohamed Al Fayed originally commissioned the seven-foot-tall statue following Jackson’s death in June of 2009. Al Fayed was chairman of the Fulham Football Club at the time, and the statue was initially ensconced at Craven Cottage football stadium in London.
Al Fayed owned the Fulham club from 1997 to 2013 when he sold it to Pakistani-born American businessman Shahid Khan. As soon as Khan took possession of the team, he banished the gaudy statue from the stadium.
In 2014, the statue was moved to the National Football Museum. But now the sculpture is being moved once again, this time completely out of sight.
The removal of the statue comes ahead of the airing of the documentary “Leaving Neverland” in which two men, Wade Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 41, allege that they were sexually abused as children by Jackson.
The museum also said that plans had been underway to remove the statue for several months.
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